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Hennepin County Commissioner District 2

The county's key policymakers who ensure that citizen concerns are met, federal and state requirements are fulfilled, and county operations run smoothly. County Commissioners oversee the administration of the county, set the county budget, and participate in county long-range planning. Services that they oversee include a wide variety of social service and welfare programs as well as certain public health programs and capital improvements.Learn more about the day in the life of a county commissioner in this video from the Association of Minnesota Counties. (https://www.mncounties.org/meetings_and_education/day_in_the_life_of_a_minnesota_county_commissioner.php)Use the MN Secretary of State’s Candidate Filing page (https://candidates.sos.mn.gov/) to find specific candidate contact information.A forum for the primary election in this race was held on July 21, 2026 - watch the recording here.

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  • Candidate picture

    Sharon El-Amin
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Irene Fernando
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Viviana Salazar
    (NP)

  • Candidate picture

    Makeda Zulu
    (NP)

Biographical Information

Why are you running for Hennepin County Commissioner and what are your qualifications for this position?

If you are elected, what will be your priorities as a Hennepin County Commissioner?

The Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) received significant funds from the 2026 Legislature to keep it operational. At the same time, the HCMC is also dealing with federal budget reductions to health care programs. As a Hennepin County Commissioner, what approach would you take to ensure critical social services, such as mental health services, housing services, and HCMC itself, are funded? What revenue sources would you propose? What are your thoughts regarding oversight of HCMC?

What is the County Board’s role in ensuring safe, affordable housing for all residents? What policies do you think are necessary to achieve the goal of access to safe, affordable housing?

The Hennepin County Board has established a broad range of 2028 - 2040 for closure of the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC). What is your goal for a closing date and what policies do you recommend be implemented to achieve zero waste?

Campaign Website http://sharonelamin.org
Campaign Email info@sharonelamin.org
Contact Phone 6125583236
telephone 6125583236
I am running for Hennepin County Commissioner because District 2 deserves visible, responsive leadership that listens to residents and turns concerns into action. I bring decades of public service, community leadership, business experience, and direct knowledge of county government. I currently serve on the Minneapolis School Board and lead the McKinley Community Center. I previously worked in the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office finance division and have operated a childcare center and family restaurant. My experience managing budgets, building partnerships, securing resources, and creating programs for families, youth, and seniors has prepared me to serve effectively from day one.
My priorities will be protecting HCMC and essential health and human services; expanding affordable housing and homelessness prevention; improving public safety through prevention, accountability, and strong emergency services; investing in youth, seniors, and small businesses; and ensuring responsible use of taxpayer dollars. I will also provide accessible, visible leadership through regular community updates, public office hours, and meaningful resident engagement
HCMC is a vital safety-net hospital and must remain a county priority. I would pursue state and federal funding, maximize Medicaid reimbursements and grants, and explore future use of existing sales-tax revenue. I would also partner with trusted community organizations to expand mental health, housing, and prevention services, reducing costly emergency care without cutting services. I support independent audits, public reporting, and stronger County Board oversight.
The County Board must use its funding, land, partnerships, and policy authority to expand and preserve safe, affordable housing. I support stronger housing investments, displacement prevention, rental assistance, pathways to homeownership, and partnerships with cities and nonprofits to create supportive housing. We must also enforce housing standards and connect residents to mental health, employment, and other services that help them remain stably housed.
My goal is to close HERC by 2028 with a responsible transition plan that protects workers and does not shift pollution to other communities. I support universal organics and recycling service, stronger construction-waste recovery, food-waste prevention, reuse and repair grants, producer responsibility, and county purchasing standards that reduce waste. The County should publish measurable annual targets and hold open meetings that give affected residents a meaning role in oversight.
Campaign Website http://www.voteirene.com
Campaign Twitter Handle @irenekfernando
Campaign Email irene@voteirene.com
Contact Phone 310-528-1245
telephone 3105281245
District 2 elected me in 2018 and 2022, and I’ve been elected annually by my colleagues: Housing Chair 2019-2020, Transit Chair 2021-2022, and Board Chair 2023-2026. It’s been the honor of my life, and I humbly request your support to continue our work. Together, we have demonstrated that compassionate, practical, and imaginative solutions can effectively address our communities’ needs.

I earned three degrees at the U: Bachelor’s in Business (2007), Master’s in Education (2014), and PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (2025). At age 17, I co-founded Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF), and we created youth-led community service road trips. In total: 800 Pay it Forward Tours in 15 years and 30,000 participants.
Strong public goods create strong communities. Families and workers are stronger when public institutions are healthy – libraries, healthcare, housing and shelter, regional transit, our social safety net. Priorities for my third term: continue essential services, defend democracy and safeguard elections, expand proven health interventions for domestic, intimate partner, and gender-based violence, uplift reproductive justice as central for community safety, as well as protect the most vulnerable.
Local governments and community providers are in financial strain due to federal decisions, but Minnesotans decide how we care for our neighbors. We need dedicated revenue to replace what was cut, and systematic analysis to reduce residential property tax burden. Access to health services is a human right, not reserved for the fortunate or the few. Property tax cannot absorb federal disinvestment at this scale, so decisive leadership this legislative session is needed to stabilize healthcare.
Access to dignified housing is a human right. I led Hennepin to prioritize deeply affordable housing and end the "pay-to-stay" shelter model. We must keep funding deeply affordable housing, grow eviction-prevention funding to stop homelessness before it starts, close the racial homeownership gap through targeted homebuyer assistance, and take our Blue Line anti-displacement model and make it the standard for major infrastructure projects so growth doesn’t push out the people it should benefit.
Hennepin generates 1.3 million tons of waste each year, approximately 1 ton of trash per resident annually. Ending HERC waste incineration responsibly and reaching zero waste are connected goals, not competing ones. We must expand impactful zero waste actions, like prioritizing multifamily recycling access and robust analysis of commercial waste. I support converting the HERC into a Pre-Sort and Recycling facility to ensure service continuity for residents, businesses, cities, and haulers.
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Campaign Website http://MakedaZulu.com
Campaign Email mzg1212@gmail.com
Contact Phone 6125014156
telephone 6125014156
I’m running for Hennepin County Commissioner because I believe government works best when it listens, responds, and delivers results for the people it serves. As a lifelong Hennepin County resident, public servant, and community leader, I have spent nearly 30 years bringing people together and developing creative solutions to address challenges in housing, health, education, environmental justice, and economic opportunity. I’m running to ensure every resident is treated with dignity, every neighborhood has the resources to thrive, and county government remains accountable, accessible, innovative, and focused on building a stronger future for all. My commitment to public service has been shaped by decades of working alongside residents, fami
For nearly 30 years, I've shown up for North Minneapolis — as a mother, a community organizer, a church co-founder, and the Senior Director of Partnerships at UROC. I've watched our families wait too long for stability and our youth wait too long for opportunity. As your next Hennepin County Commissioner, I'm bringing that same consistency, that same accountability, to the County Board. ONE of us. Ready for ALL of us. Here is where I will focus my energy and your trust: HERC (Hennepin Energy Rec
HCMC isn't just Hennepin County's hospital — it's Minnesota's safety net. Last year, it served patients from 86 of our state's 87 counties, and its trauma and hyperbaric programs reach families across state lines. This is bigger than us. It's about us and everyone who depends on us. That lifeline is under real threat. Federal Medicaid cuts could cost HCMC $40-50 million this year alone, and as much as $1.7 billion over the next decade. Hospital systems statewide have warned what we already know:
Housing security is the foundation everything else is built on — health, safety, dignity, family stability. As Commissioner, I will use every lever the county has to close the gap between who needs housing and who can access it, while being honest about who bears the cost. The reality we're facing: Over 53,000 Hennepin County households earn below 30% of area median income, but fewer than 19,000 units exist that are affordable to them. That gap is the crisis. I will fight to close it — for every
For too long, North Minneapolis has carried the weight of pollution that the rest of the county benefits from. The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center burns nearly half of all trash generated in this county — and the neighborhoods surrounding it, disproportionately Black and brown, working-class communities, breathe the consequences every day. But this isn't only a Northside issue: the HERC sits steps from Target Field and the North Loop, meaning thousands of stadium visitors, North Loop residents,